Conflict, culls and colonies

Tales of huge numbers of wild boar are probably exaggerated and there is no reason why a UK population cannot be sustainable

- Jack Bell

During the reign of King William I, the enactment of the Forest Law (1087) laid down that those guilty of killing a stag, roebuck or wild boar were liable to the punishment of blinding, and the hunting of these “beasts of the forest” was reserved only for nobility.

Forest Law was designed to protect game species and the habitat that sustained them, implemented for the sole purpose of protecting game stocks for the king’s personal hunting forays. Originally, royal forests were designated hunting grounds, not limited to afforested areas, but encompassed open heathland, grasslands and wetlands. However, the implementation of the Forest Law led to a monumental push for afforestation, often at the expense of local communities whose homes were burned, entire villages evicted and lands cleared to bolster habitat and consequently increase and sustain deer and boar populations.

The Forest Law was disastrous for many local people but undoubtedly helped to create a healthy and mostly unhindered breeding population of native wild boar. Historical evidence suggests that the original UK natives were most common in coastal areas and in woodland plantations below the snowline. Later, in the Middle Ages, the implications of the feudal system led to the felling of forests and the drainage of reedbeds — both due to the growth in agriculture — which degraded and in some areas removed all suitable habitat for boar.

Villainised

Boar quickly became villainised for uprooting crops, breaking fences and interbreeding with domestic pigs. The species was caught up in a period of prolonged animal-human conflict and its habitat became increasingly fragmented. By the 16th century, boar were only present in a few areas of small, isolated woodland habitats. It became vulnerable to overhunting, and by the 17th century wild boar had become extinct in the UK.